We Do Golf Too

We are responsible for the team equipment needs for all 19 of our varsity sports, and one of those teams are Men's Golf.

This past Monday and Tuesday, we hosted our annual Arizona Intercollegiate Invitational at our home golf course, Arizona National. Our team finished in second place, one stroke behind the Cal Golden Bears. Our very own, Rich Saferian (picture with Wendell below), won the individual honors after shooting rounds of 68-66-66 for a 13 under par, three strokes better than the closest competitor.

In finishing second place in the team category, our Wildcats beat some very good competition, which is always present at this very prestigious event. Teams such as: #3 Florida Gators, #10 Texas A&M (last years National Champions), #15 UNLV, #30 San Diego State, #45 New Mexico Lobos and others.

We really enjoy working with the golfers and our two AWESOME coaches, Head Coach Rick LaRose, who has led UofA to National Championships and is in the Golf Hall of Fame; and Assistant Coach, Andy Barnes, who was an All American golfer here.

The equipment room staff just wants to give a huge shout out and congratulations to the 2010 Arizona Intercollegiate Invitational Champion, Rich Saferian!!!!!!

Exciting Day Today!!!

Well, the day got started for us in the equipment room very early this morning. Today was the first day of winter workouts, run by Coach Edmonds and his GREAT strength and conditioning staff.

Coach Stoops and the Strength and Conditioning staff put a huge emphasis on this portion of the process! The players work very hard for Coach Ed and Mike Stoops! That has been true from the first day they got here!

Then, after we got in from the practice field, we already had a couple of faxes in from High School players who faxed their National Letters of Intent to play for the Wildcats waiting for us in the football office. The coaches feel very good about all the players who signed and faxed in today. We have a reception tonight where many of our fans will come and listen to Coach Stoops talk about each player.

I feel certain all of these players will turn out to be great players and wonderful citizens, just like all of the other players that Coach Stoops has brought into this program.

Below are some pictures from early this morning.




Managers got here at 4:30 this morning to get these workouts ready for the team today:

Mike Baranowski and John Landwehr assist in getting the field ready this morning, way before the sun came up:
Mike Harlow and Zack Risdon get chutes ready:

Mgrs get the field ready early this morning:

Mike Harlow must have thought it was going to snow?????

Zack Risdon works on chutes:

Willie Salzman gets field ready by putting cones by an area that needs to be avoided:

Coach Edmonds looks after this drill, and ALL drills:

Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore out front in this footwork drill:

Coach Hammerschmidt looks on as players run around the hoops:

PVC pipe hoops have always been a staple with this staff for drills:

Players hustling from one station to the next:

Players pushing the weights across the field:

Players working at the footwork drill station:

Players working hard with footwork:

Nike is in the House

We had a GREAT day today with Nike's Men's Athletic Training/Field Sports Product Creation Team visiting our equipment room and talking with many of our student-athletes, coaches and equipment staff.

Nike is about many things, but the one thing that they do not get enough credit for is spending a lot of time and money developing product with feedback directly from athletes and using their feedback to design the best equipment in the world. To me, this is the main reason they are number one in the world in their business.

This team is responsible for so much of Nike's success! We were honored to have them visit with us today. For years, we have worked closely with Nike to help them develop product. For years we have field tested so much gear for them. We field test cleats for them all the time.

Much credit also goes to our staff of great equipment managers such as Tim Pfennig and Benny Conger who deserve a lot of credit for their hard work all year long for their work with our student athletes and the Nike development team. These two guys put in a great deal of effort to make this partnership work.

We are very fortunate to have a partnership with Nike (the world's GREATEST product) and a great relationship with many of their very dedicated team members. It is easy to see why Nike is so successful when you are able to spend a day with this team like we were able to do today.

Below are some pictures of their work with some of our student-athletes, coaches and equipment staff.

Last Weekend of Recruiting

Tim Pfennig and I will be meeting with recruits tomorrow morning as we approach signing day this next Wednesday, February 3, 2010.

The amount of recruits are starting to dwindle, but not the quality. We have some really good players coming in to see us this weekend.

Tim and I will visit with them for about 15 minutes and we will go over everything we do for them once they are a member of our football team. We talk to them about our extensive maintenance program on their helmets and shoulder pads, along with everything else we do for them.

Then we show them the display of everything they get as a member of the team. They always enjoy that part of the presentation. They always like to try things on, touch and hold the equipment.

Tim and I really enjoy the opportunity to meet these young men, and many times they will have their parents with them as well. We always get many really good questions from the recruits and their parents.

Our coaches are VERY excited about signing day. They feel like this class will be as good or better than all of the other classes that Coach Stoops has brought in during his career here.

Inventory Time

We have been busy for over a week now counting every single item of football equipment in the equipment room.

After each season, we do an extensive inventory of everything. There are several reasons for doing this. One, and most importantly, it is required for auditing purposes. Also, it is essential for ordering for next season and making sure we order the correct amount of items.

In the meantime, I have been visiting with a number of equipment managers around the country that I have admired and respected for years. I am talking with them about how they order certain items. I feel that this is necessary from time to time in order to stay on top of things. It is very easy to get stuck in doing things only one way. I do not do these type of survey questions real often, but I felt now is a good time to look into how others order.

In visiting with these other equipment managers, I have found that we are doing things the same way many other BCS schools do things as well.

After we are done with inventory, we will be placing orders with all of our vendors so we can take delivery come July 1, 2010.

I have received a few emails asking me if I am going to keep the blog going through out the off season. I do plan on blogging from time to time, but it will not be as often as during the season.

I am going to be doing some blogs about things we do in the equipment room. Thank you to all of you that have emailed me with questions and ideas.

Back in the Office and Excited About 2010

Our trip to the AFCA convention in Orlando was a HUGE success! Tim and I returned last night and we are both back in the equipment room today and excited about the 2010 season!

We are about to go to a Team Meeting this afternoon and hear what Coach Stoops has to say. Today is the first day of classes and campus is back to the way it is suppose to be....busy and exciting!

The managers had today off to get things in order, then Tim and I will meet with them tomorrow and get the semester lined up for them. We have a lot of inventorying to do at first.

I hope to blog as much as possible throughout the semester. Thanks again for all the comments sent to me at my email address. I love hearing from each of you!

Headed to Orlando

Tim Pfennig and I will be leaving tomorrow for Orlando, Florida for the annual AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) convention.

While attending the convention, we will also take part in a meeting of Pac 10 Equipment Managers meeting.

Most of the division I equipment managers around the country will be attending the convention. All of the major vendors will be at the convention doing exhibits. One of the major exhibits will be all of the new Nike gear for 2010 season. It will be the first, and only real close look at the new shoe styles. Our order will be due next month, so it is very important to be able to get a look at the shoes.

It is good to see all the new field equipment, especially when our coaches are there to see it too so they can let us know what will work best for them.

We will return next Tuesday evening.